Psalm 47–50

PSALM 47

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

¹Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

²For the Lord, the Most High, is terrible,

a great king over all the earth.

³He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

⁴He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

⁵God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

⁷For God is the king of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!

⁸God reigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

⁹The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted!

PSALM 48

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

¹Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised

in the city of our God!

His holy mountain,

²beautiful in elevation,

is the joy of all the earth,

Mount Zion, in the far north,

the city of the great King.

³Within her citadels God

has shown himself a sure defense.

⁴For lo, the kings assembled,

they came on together.

⁵As soon as they saw it, they were astounded,

they were in panic, they took to flight;

⁶trembling took hold of them there,

anguish as of a woman in travail.

⁷By the east wind thou didst shatter

the ships of Tarshish.

⁸As we have heard, so have we seen

in the city of the Lord of hosts,

in the city of our God,

which God establishes for ever. Selah

⁹We have thought on thy steadfast love, O God,

in the midst of thy temple.

¹⁰As thy name, O God,

so thy praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

Thy right hand is filled with victory;

¹¹let Mount Zion be glad!

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice

because of thy judgments!

¹²Walk about Zion, go round about her,

number her towers,

¹³consider well her ramparts,

go through her citadels;

that you may tell the next generation

¹⁴that this is God,

our God for ever and ever.

He will be our guide for ever.

PSALM 49

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

¹Hear this, all peoples!

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high,

rich and poor together!

³My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

⁶men who trust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

⁷Truly no man can ransom himself,^o

or give to God the price of his life,

⁸for the ransom of his^p life is costly,

and can never suffice,

⁹that he should continue to live on for ever,

and never see the Pit.

¹⁰Yea, he shall see that even the wise die,

the fool and the stupid alike must perish

and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves^q are their homes for ever,

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they named lands their own.

¹²Man cannot abide in his pomp,

he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of those^r who have foolish confidence,

the end of those who are pleased with their portion. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

straight to the grave they descend,^s

and their form shall waste away;

Sheol shall be their home.^t

¹⁵But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me. Selah

¹⁶Be not afraid when one becomes rich,

when the glory^u of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies he will carry nothing away;

his glory^u will not go down after him.

¹⁸Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy,

and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself,

¹⁹he will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never more see the light.

²⁰Man cannot abide in his pomp,

he is like the beasts that perish.

PSALM 50

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines forth.

³Our God comes, he does not keep silence,

before him is a devouring fire,

round about him a mighty tempest.

⁴He calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵“Gather to me my faithful ones,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

⁶The heavens declare his righteousness,

for God himself is judge! Selah

⁷“Hear, O my people, and I will speak,

O Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

⁸I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;

your burnt offerings are continually before me.

⁹I will accept no bull from your house,

nor he-goat from your folds.

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the birds of the air,^v

and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;

for the world and all that is in it is mine.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^w

and pay your vows to the Most High;

¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:

“What right have you to recite my statutes,

or take my covenant on your lips?

¹⁷For you hate discipline,

and you cast my words behind you.

¹⁸If you see a thief, you are a friend of his;

and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹“You give your mouth free rein for evil,

and your tongue frames deceit.

²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother’s son.

²¹These things you have done and I have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.

²²“Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I rend, and there be none to deliver!

²³He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me;

to him who orders his way aright

I will show the salvation of God!”